TOEIC Link Part 5: canvas versus canvass
Canvas and canvass are pronounced alike and differ only by a doubled s, but they are different parts of speech with unrelated meanings. Canvas (one s) is a noun meaning heavy woven cloth, or the surface a painting is made on. Canvass (two s's) is a verb meaning to survey people for opinions or to solicit votes, orders, or support. Part 5 places them where either could look right, so it checks whether you spell the meaning you intend. For the wider set of look-alike traps, start with the commonly confused word pairs master index.
The core rule: cloth versus surveying
- canvas (noun) = heavy cloth; a painting surface. The tents are made of waterproof canvas. / The artist stretched a fresh canvas. It answers what material or surface is it? — cloth. Link the single s to a single flat sheet of cloth: a canvas is a thing.
- canvass (verb) = to survey opinions; to solicit support or orders. The team will canvass customers about the new pricing. / Volunteers canvassed the neighborhood before the vote. It answers what action is being done? — asking around. Link the double s to searching and soliciting: to canvass is to go person to person.
The double-letter memory hook does the work: one s = a single sheet (canvas, the cloth), two s's = survey and solicit (canvass, the action). A campaign printed on canvas banners while volunteers canvass the streets — one names the material, the other names the legwork.
Why Part 5 likes this pair
Canvas is a noun and canvass is a verb, so the pair tests whether you read the sentence's grammar. If the blank follows will, to, or another verb marker, it needs the verb form.
The research firm was hired to __ small businesses about hiring plans.
Surveying opinions is canvass.
The bags are cut from a single roll of durable __.
The material is canvas.
Spotting the clue
Decide whether the blank names a material or describes an action:
- Is the word a noun for cloth or a painting surface? → choose canvas (oil on canvas, a canvas tote).
- Is the word a verb meaning to survey or solicit? → choose canvass (canvass voters, canvassed the district).
A quick test: can you put "a" or "the" in front and hold it as a thing? Then it is canvas (the noun). Does it describe going around asking people for opinions or support? Then it is canvass (the verb). When the sentence is about fabric, tents, or art, lean canvas; when it is about polling, surveying, or drumming up support, lean canvass. For more sound-alike verbs that hide in Part 5, see the sound-alike verb pairs study guide.